Help me get myself sorted /prioritise - it's good housekeeping/DIY thread really......

[FAQ]

Sometime after Christmas I'll be moving - this house is either going to be repossessed, or have been sold - obviously I don't know when one of these options is going to happen, but I am hoping that the house will be in a decent enough state for exH to get it on the market ASAP.

There's SO much to do and I really don't know where to start.

Quite a lot of the house needs "touching up", minor repairs - some of this will be done over a weekend by my best friend's DH (I won a bid on a silent auction at church for a weekend of DIY/Maintenance from him), the rest will be done by me (and hopefully a few RL friends too).

This is what needs to be done

Various bits of wall filled
Repaint (bathroom/kitchen and main bedroom definitely need doing, and the painting in DS1's room needs "touching up" as I made a has of the edges/corners of the wall which is a different colour from the rest)
Several sections of wallpaper in the lounge/diner have been ripped completely off
The bathroom door needs fixing back on
New toilet seat needs fitting as the lid is broken

I have many boxes of stuff upstairs which are destined for car boot or ebay. There's 2 more before Christmas, so hopefuly shift some then, although I think I should probably try and sell some stuff on ebay/local paper before then?

The whole house needs a good clean
The garden needs tidying up

DS3's cot is now in with DS2, however this doesn't leave much in their, there's plenty of space in my bedroom - should I consider moving him back into my room (although he wakes frequently when he's in with me ) to create more space in the middle bedroom?

There's no carpet on the main bedroom floor - should really try and get something down shouldn't we?

The paint work on the front of the house doesn't look that great.

The carpets need cleaning (properly)

Some of the kitchen cupboard doors need new handles

I need to tidy up in general (normal housework)

Obviously we want the house on the market ASAP - but although the repair stuff will probably be done in the next 2 weeks or so, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to have totally redecorated.

What do I need to do first?

Which are the most important things to sort to make it at least semi decent for viewing??

Help - I'm totally lost

I know you could argue it's exH's responsibility to get it sorted as it's in his name - but

a) I don't want him wandering round the house deciding what needs doing and dictating to me when/how it should be done

b) The better I get it looking the more chance of it going for a decent price, which means I have a greater chance of getting something back from it

What I'm thinking is

(vaguely)

Tidy/clean
Get the "key" repair work done

Get the house on the market

Repaint/touch up the areas that need doing (or should we delay getting the house on the market until we've finished the redecorating?)

Organise all the stuff I want to sell neatly in boxes and start getting it onto ebay/gumtree/local paper, start packing/decuttering everything else

BUT I'm not sure - what should my priorities be???

sorry I know the OP isn't very organised or make much sense - I just wrote it out as it's going round in my head

Start listing stuff on ebay now as it does take time to list/sell/post and you need to declutter as much as possible to make it easier to do the other stuff. It'll also provide some cash for the other work.

I agree you need to get it on the market asap but you don't want it looking scruffy for the photos. How about getting a friend or even an estate agent to come round and look with a fresh pair of eyes and tell you what stands out as a priority?

Our house is a dreadful mess too so I'm probably not the best person to advise (!) but I would

Sell the boxes of stuff

Get the door fixed, a new toilet seat and get the handles on kitchen cupboards

Get the garden tidied up a bit

Clean the carpet

I don't think getting a new carpet or redecorating is such a priority as the new people might want to do it themselves anway.

I'm terrified of getting the carpet cleaned too soon, as with the DS's I just know they're going to get it filthy again the minute it's cleaned (and all of the carpets in the house need doing) - they're 8,4 and 16 months

So you think we could get away with no having carpet in the master bedroom? It's a really big room and doesn't really need too much doing to it, it's just the floor looks horrible - the previous owners had put what I can only assume is MDF? sqaure nailed down as underlay/to cover whatever is underneath.

and the bits I'd want to redecorate (kitchen, bathroom and lounge/diner) do look really awful, marked/scuffed/paper ripped off walls, and in the bathroom it looks like someone has smeared cr*p all over one wall as previous ownners painted straight one the (untreated wall with the wrong type of paint - so it looks "rusty/crap" coloured and is all flaking - it's ghastly - and I'm just glad that I can't see it when I'm in the bath as I have my back to it .

God it's so daunting moving house on my own with 3 young DS's - but it's got to be done......I'm trying to be positive about it and work on making it go as easily as possible as I'm actually really gutted that we'll have to move - havent' told the DS's yet - but will have to soon as the major declutering/selling of stuff isn't going to be happening soon.

Would actually start the ball rolling on finding an EA now tbh. - Finding out what they charge, what they think the house is worth, where they think you ought to concentrate your efforts, whether you ought to go the magnolia route etc etc. It actually took us a couple of weeks to do all this when we sold our flat a few years ago. Plus you just never know. Someone may see past the bits that need doing / accept that you will soon resolve the bits that need doing (we needed to tart our bathroom up - and the people that bought it came back to check we'd done everything we'd said we would do) and be interested enough to make an offer. If your home is repossessed I think you are in a worse situation than if you had managed to sell it yourself.

I would declutter and put stuff on ebay first. Then I would tackle one room at a time and try and get all decorating done before putting the house on the market. Potential buyers would only want to knock the sale price down.

yomellla - the repossession won't affect me - other than having to find somewhere to rent with the DS's.

It's all in exH's name - and the contribution I was making towards the mortgage will stop this month - so I'll effectively be living "rent free" until I have to move - which will give me a chance to get a deposit and a month or two's rent save up.

We (ex) doesn't have time to get it all sorted - the mortgage payment on the 1st Oct won't be made (and he's already talked to them and been through every option possible - and there's nothing else they can offer) - although they don't know that yet so it's literally a race between getting it sold (for anything that will cover the costs of selling/paying mortgage/costs etc) and getting repossessed.

It usually takes 2 full years of non payment before they start to repossess ~ unless it's changed since the 90's. Are there really 2 years worth of non payments FAQ?

To explain myself there...my exh~1 and I split in 1990 and he stopped paying the mortgage(joint mort)and I could only pay half of it. It took 4 years for them to start talking about repossession because they'd had half the payments. If I'd paid nothing at all it would've only taken 2 years. Luckily, I sold it at the 11th hour.

it's not 2yrs solo - 2/3 months before they start court proceedings, but actually repossession can take 6 months or more to sort - and if you're part way through the sale of the house when it goes to court the judge can grant you time to finish the sale rather than allowing repossession - so I have plenty of time to get saved for deposit and rent (and maybe even pay off a few of my own small debts too} - but obviously despite exH being a twat I'd llike to try and help make sure it doesn't get to the repossesion stage - I'd rather like him to be able to afford to keep seeing his DS's......

well I've been paying for half the mortgage (even though it's not in my name) - but if I continue doing that - to keep the bank happier, then I'm not going to be able to save for the inevitable - so exH has told me to cancel my standing order that goes to his account so I can use the money to sort me and the DS's out (which I think is rather kind of him as all of the repercussions of repossession/non-payment etc are going to fall on his head not mine)

It has obviously changed then, which is a shame for you FAQ. Yes, you need to ensure that you have enough money to go into rented, of course you do.
I'm sure that your exh will have money left over in his bank account once the property has been sold whether repossessed or not, so although he may not be able to buy another property for a good while, he should still end up with money in his pocket. Even in this climate, he surely can't be in negative equity? He ought to help you out once the sale(however that happens)is completed. Will he do you think?

yes he's said he'll help me out (and although he's a twat I do believe him on this one as he knows that it'll be for the DS's benefit) if there's anything left.

We shouldn't be in negative equity - house on this street (3 bedroom - courtesy of a loft conversion) has just gone of for £30k more than we currently owe on this place - and other ones that have been up for sale on this street recently have moved reasonably quickly - and at decent prices too). Just need to spruce this place up a bit to increase chances of a decent(ish) price to leave money left over once mortgage/arrears/early repayment/legal fees/estate agent fees etc are paid.

Although as it's going to take months for anything to happen - and I have £400 a month to save towards deposit and rent I'm going to have enough money to pay off some of the money I owe as well - so anything I do get from the house sale will just be an added bonus.

I just need to get off my arse and start getting sorted - haven't told the DS's yet (I only found out on Friday that it would definitely have to be sold) as I wanted to have a chance for it to sink in for me. I'm trying to think of ways to make it "exciting" for them.........

Do you get anything if the house is repossessed??? I thought that they sold it cheap enough to get their money back and the borrower didn't get anything??

Well, I hope he keeps to his word for you and your Dc's. Good luck! (kind)

well if he doesn't I'll have paid off some bills anyhow by then - and I'll be slightly better off as I'll qualify for HB (so in the long run it is better for me and the DS's anyhow - I just didn't want to move them from their "home").

I don't think they are allowed to do that FAQ, unless they've changed that too(although I seem to remember that being made the law in the recent 10 years, but don't quote me on that). I think they have to get as much as possible and pay back anything that is left over after the sale, though they will take out the costs from anything left. On the down side, if they can't get back all their money, I believe that the debt will still stand against the borrower(exh).
Would it be worth you talking to the CAB and finding all this stuff out for sure so that you are in the know and therefore fore armed?
Also, make sure your savings are carefully hidden, so that they can't be taken into account if that should happen~you are I think equally liable for debt unless you are divorced. Get some proper advice though ~ please.

We have no joint financial commitments, so I'm actually today writing to try and get myself disassociated with him financially. (but will also get proper advice)

Good to hear Good luck!